Gamers are often attracted to the promise of freedom that open-world video games provide. The ability to try different things and see how the game world reacts can provide hours of fun for those looking to deviate from the main story with side quests or just explore the in-game mechanics of a title. One gamer recently decided to explore the differences between non-playable characters (NPCs) between 2013's beloved Grand Theft Auto 5 and the recently released Cyberpunk 2077.
Bear Gaming Asia uploaded a nearly 9-minute long video of themselves roaming both game worlds, messing with NPCs in varying situations to see how each set of NPCs reacted. From pointing a gun at people and staring to attacking vehicles and firing a weapon in the streets, Bear Gaming Asia highlighted the marked differences between the games and their respective NPCs. One thing is quickly established: the difference in NPC in-game reactions.
This seems to be the core criticism Bear Gaming Asia is highlighting through their juxtaposing footage. Whereas Grand Theft Auto 5's NPCs react directly to what's happening to them—whether it's having a gun pointed at them or being attacked in the street, Cyberpunk 2077's NPCs seem to be a lot more docile and accepting.
When staring down an NPC in Cyberpunk 2077, for example, the character simply stared back, barely reacting no matter how close the characters got. Conversely, in Grand Theft Auto 5, the footage captured showcased an NPC become uncomfortable with being looked at to the point that they become aggressive, ultimately leading to fists being thrown. A passerby even stops to watch and cheer the ensuing brawl as Bear Gaming Asia took a break from the game's lengthy narrative.
For the next test, Bear Gaming Asia attempted to attack random NPCs in front of police. Whereas Cyberpunk 2077's police force watch on, uncaring and unmoved, the ones in Grand Theft Auto 5 take immediate issue with the assault of an NPC, drawing their weapons and moving in to apprehend the player. In another experiment, the player fired a weapon in the streets in Cyberpunk 2077, causing pedestrians to flee. NPCs sitting in their cars put their hands up and cowed their heads. Grand Theft Auto 5 meanwhile sees people panic, drive erratically to get away, and scream, ultimately leading Bear Gaming Asia getting mowed down by a truck.
It's worth highlighting that Grand Theft Auto 5 was released back in 2013. The past seven years have seen the game receive a plethora of updates to address issues and bugs, tweaking and continually trying to improve the experience for its fans, leading to the game featured in the comparison video. Meanwhile, controversy has plagued Cyberpunk 2077 since it was released earlier this month. It was recently removed from the PlayStation Store, with gamers who made a digital purchase of the game being promised a full refund. Developer CD Projekt Red promised large patches will be arriving in January and February with the intention to fix a lot of the bugs and issues disgruntled gamers have encountered whilst playing the game, and will hopefully lead the game to deliver the immersive experience a lot of gamers had initially hoped for.
Cyberpunk 2077 is out now for PC, PlayStation 4 (physically,) and Xbox One. The game will release for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in 2021.